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• April 21, 2009
• 18:41

  Dambisa Moyo Talks Dead AID on Norwegian TV

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  Dambisa Moyo to a well-meaning politician in Norway which gives 1% of its GDP in AID:
  
  

  “Africa would like to be like Norway, would like to be able to stand on its own two feet, would like to be able to participate as an equal partner, not as a junior partner, not as a beggar on the global stage.
  
  As we know, Norway did not become Norway today from sitting back and relying on other people to provide education, healthcare, security and infrastructure.The government in Norway provides an environment where entrepreneurs and private sector Norwegians can flourish and develop…
  
  The fundamental problem is that AID allows African governments to take a back seat. They don’t have to encourage Africans. They don’t have to report to Africans as the government in Norway reports to the Norwegian people. That’s not the case in Africa. In Africa the government can sit back and allow the Norwegians to provide us with healthcare, the Americans to provide the infrastructure, the Chinese to provide electricity or whatever…”
  

  I love her tone. It rings to me as firm but at the same time quite gracious. She's got something to say but she's not dressing up in full combat gear and brandishing an AK47 to get it said. She's assertive but not combative. Just what the doctor ordered.
  
  PS It’s not a hefty clip and it’s well worth a watch, both to place the above quote in context (to see for example how she isolates three types of AID and speaks here for the most part about Bilateral government to government AID) and to listen to the comeback arguments of the Norwegian politician who, as far as I can tell, goes only be the name Raymond.
  
  I'm now about to finish reading the book.
  
  Sure, she makes some sweeping statements where more nuanced arguments might be made, and perhaps it's all been said before, but the conversation she has revived (or at least inserted a young African woman's voice into, which in itself is refreshing)is an important one. Hopefully we are on the brink of a time when the people standing on opposite sides of this 'great question of our time' can drop their defences and engage in earnest, neither squirming uneasily or unduly defensive, each giving as good as s/he gets.
  
  
  
  It's my window, but I don't own the view.

• 13:09

  Sam Mwai's Legacy

   » ‎ SportsKenya
  One of Kenya's most consistent and visible sports management practitioners had his term expire. He who managed to bring the shine back to two of the country's biggest and most noticeable stadia. One of his last briefs was the negotiation of the naming rights of the Nyayo National Stadium into the Coca-Cola Stadium.
  When he was appointed back in 2003, I thought this was another of the snobbish uptight guys fit for a fairway types. He managed to sit in well with most of the staff and slowly built a legacy which I hope the successor doesn't trample all over it.
  
  Actual image of Kasarani Stadium at night- photo courtesy of SSMB
  
  
  Well as they say, one journey comes to an end another starts...I'm sure this is not the last we have heard of Sam. The upcoming golf clubs and some really impressive one at the Coast may think of hiring his services-where he started.
  Better still he may serve as a consultant for the Sports Stadia Management Board which still needs a hand in quickly revamping a couple of other stadia countrywide as we hope to reap some stay from visiting teams for the World Cup.
  He truly deserves a place in our sports annals for bringing the glory (and the crowds-sic !) back to our stadia.
  SSMB- kazi kwenu...you have your cloth clearly cut !

• 9:29

  Dispatches from the Centre

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  *same post, different title
  
  A couple of carefully selected stories about some of what is going on in central province. These are of the mild variety just to hint at some of what is going on far from the limelight.
  
  The first story is of a young man trying to go about his business who encounters a force greater than himself:
  
  
  

  A young man in a certain village in central province is going about his own business, trying to make a living and all of that life consuming stuff. Then one evening a friend invites him to go for a walk or for a visit.
  
  Why not? So, off they go together.
  
  Next thing he knows, he’s walked right into an oathing ceremony. Just like that. It had all been staged, apparently, and his friend knew right where he was leading him. Once you’ve walked into one of those ceremonies, they say, the only way you can leave alive is to take the oath.
  
  This happened to a particular young man who decided he wasn’t going to give in so easily. He thought his best escape was religion. So off to the most Pentecostal local church he went, to stage an encounter with the lord and become a born again Christian because everyone knows you can’t serve two masters, right?
  
  As the story was told to me, the Mungiki on hearing of his newfound faith, sent him a congratulatory note for his newly pledged allegiance and then appended a reminder that once he belonged to them, there was no way out, really, he was theirs.
  
  In the end, he stole away in the middle of the night to somewhere else he judged to be safer. Nobody knows where. A few nights later, his wife and child followed.
  

  The second story is of a rural town that depends on agriculture:
  
  
  

  There were Lorries that regularly went into a certain rural town on market day to buy farmers’ produce for transportation to Nairobi. One day, as the Lorries approached the town, they were stopped by the Mungiki, who demanded payment before they could do business in the town. The payment was made, but come the next market day, and the next, and the next, there were no Lorries. Farmers stood forlornly by the wayside, as their produce went bad.
  
  Finally, for lack of options, they negotiated with the Mungiki: “we’ll pay you,” they pledged, “but please, don’t harass the people who come to buy our produce, else we’ll starve, you and us, both.” The agreement thus reached, business unusual resumed.
  

  *Update. A third story is found here.

  Residents have, since August last year, been forced to pay Sh15 a day for semi-permanent homes, Sh100 for timber-structures and Sh800 for permanent stone buildings. Those residents who do not pay are raided, their homes broken into and property stolen, or even killed. Many of the motorcycle taxi owners became angry when the sect members decided to levy a Sh300 per person a day "fee." The boda boda operators, like other residents, were expected to deposit their "fee" at strategic places at Kerugoya Stadium.
  

  Several holes had been dug and a plastic bag was inserted inside and held down by a stone. You were required to stuff money inside the bag and walk away. Some of the sect members are located at strategic places within the area and take note of all the people who have paid.

  The question is, do these things matter when they happen to other people, far away from where we are, or has it all become too much to care about?
  
  At the tail end of the Allafrica.com story, you will find what is the alleged explanation for why Police are not acting in the face of the growing Mungiki menace, or, as it is known in other places, why they are not doing their job:
  
  

  Last week, area police boss Herbert Khaemba told the vigilante group that the police were unwilling to take any action because of accusations that they were carrying out extra-judicial killings.
  

  In plain English: they are sulking as people are suffering, killing and being killed.
  
  But hold on there's more:
  
  

  Police joined the convoy of vigilantes riding motorbikes at Kagio and followed them as they moved through the different towns.
  

  
  So the Police, having miserably failed in keeping the peace, have morphed into a vigilante support squad?
  
  

  He [one of the vigilantes who was interviewed] claimed that they had been allowed to carry out the operation by the police.
  
  "They [police] have given us a paper to say they are supporting us. They are helping us. They have given us recognition and they know what we are doing and are behind us," Maina said at the end of the operation yesterday.
  

  
  In other words, a complete breakdown of order. Which has led, in the end, to this kind of madness.
  
  God. Help. Us.It's my window, but I don't own the view.
• 7:54

  Growing Older, Getting Bolder

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  The older I’ve become, the more open I’ve become to confronting my beliefs and my assumptions. To grappling with the whatifs. (Yes, Virginia, there are whatifs and that’s ok, so take a deep breath and get a grip and all of that.)
  
  The older I’ve become, the more open I’ve become, also, to not knowing. I laugh, now, at how, in my youth, I had all the answers. Seriously, I was full of it. There were no loose ends back then. Everything was either black or white.
  
  Now, I struggle to pull the ends together, let alone tie them. These days, black and white overlap all over the place. It’s disconcerting sometimes, but most of the time, it’s empowering. I’m constantly left breathless by the discovery of a new layer of meaning or by being challenged to see something in a new way. Which challenge may come in the form of a book, or a song, or a conversation. Or even, in the form of an encounter with someone who has chosen to be different.
  
  Speaking of which, I used to love a particular provocative quote I found on the banner on Iman’s blog. I forget the words exactly, but it was all about yellow rivers, red trees, blue grass. And why not?It's my window, but I don't own the view.

• 7:37

  New Rules for Nairobi Stockbrokers

   » ‎ bankelele

  Tags:  NSE stockbrokers  

  stockbrokers to remain hidden
  
  The Kenya Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has published new rules at its website on how they propose to regulate stockbrokers. They have also published proposed rules for Kenya real estate investment trusts – a.k.a. REIT’s as they are called.
  
  Unlike with other plublications like the Treasury Budget process or (new rules from) the Communications Commission of Kenya, the CMA is not inviting public comments or suggestions; these are finalized new rules.
  
  What they include
  
  The Capital Markets (Conduct of Business) (Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2009
  - Intermediaries (i.e. stockbrokers / investment banks) will be required to engage in know your customer (KYC) practices (to prevent money laundering)
  - brokers will not recommend unsuitable transactions once they know profile of their customer
  - No cold calling allowed (does that happen in Kenya? Banks and insurers sometimes do that)
  - Brokers must have policies for customer confidentially, handling customer complaints,
  - Brokers barred from front running and account churning
  - Brokers must separate client funds and stockbroker funds
  - Broker employees undertake not to use information gained from clients for personal gain
  
  contentions clauses
  - Will customers really have a right to be paid interest on their funds held?
  - Will brokers prepare objective client agreements that will be signed between them and clients – and which call on them to disclose third party remuneration, conflicts of interest etc?
  
  The Capital Markets (Corporate Governance) (Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2009
  - Each stockbroker must have board of directors, who are not children (i.e. under 25 years), and one must not be related to any other director; also the CMA will have to approve any board changes
  - new rules vest management of the broker in the board of directors on matters such as audit, risk assessment, key employee hiring & duties
  - broker to hire a compliance officer
  - broker to hire an internal auditor
  - employees to disclose securities they or their close associates own
  
  REIT rules
  
  The Capital Markets (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2009
  - REIT/schemes will distribute at least 90% of after tax income as dividends like in other countries
  - Scheme may borrow for investments, but these will not exceed 1/5 of total assets
  - REIT must have an independent Principal valuer to value the scheme assets. He/she must be changed every three years
  - Trust founders may not own more than 50% , and publicly listed ones may have a minimum of 100 members
  
  Summary: The CMA to be notified in advance of key events at stockbrokers; e.g. new key managers, likely changes in ownership, material pending lawsuits, auditor changes. Also, the new compliance rules make it more expensive for small stockbrokers to comply; this may force them to merge or seek new shareholders.
  
  Stockbrokers will however remain hidden as their disclosure requirements remain only to the CMA even on the basic issue of sharing financial returns with the public; stockbrokers are required to prepare only annual balance sheets and profit & loss statements using IFRS; but these they will only be shared with the CMA – not published for the public. Contrastingly , the rules are lenient for stockbrokers and harsher for REIT’s who will publish its (quarterly) un-audited financial results in at least two national daily newspapers of national circulation. REIT’s are also required to employ auditors recognized by the institute of certified public accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), but that does not apply to stockbrokers whose auditor qualifications are not spelt out. why not?